It is starting to look like only Apple and its allies in the Tame Apple press think that smartwatches are a good idea.

Google's smartwatch initiative Android Wear is crawling along like one of the overweight joggers on the second day of their New Year's resolution.

Android Wear sold 15.6 percent of the total "smart wearable bands" market in 2014, according to market analysts at Canalys.

The company says it believes that out of 4.6 million devices sold last year, the six Android Wear models that hit the market together sold about 720,000 units.

The analysts included any wrist-worn devices capable of running applications made by a third party, which includes Pebble and Samsung's Tizen-powered watches.

Canalys said in a report it published that Android Wear's first few months of sales fell below expectations from the search giant.

Smartwatches were outsold by fitness bands three to one, the analysts claim. The simpler wristband devices, which focus on step-tracking and fitness, are sold by companies like Fitbit, Razer and Jawbone.

The bands lacked a screen and support for outside apps, but beat out smartwatches on battery life.

The analysts say that the problem is that Android Wear devices' brightly lit touchscreens and smartphone notifications that can quickly drain their small batteries.

While no one in their right mine would buy one now, all that is expected to change when Apple releases its watch and markets it to the point where people believe it is a good thing. Apple's watch has the advantage that it is so late that it is running on ideas tried by its rivals.Google is expected to unveil Android Wear 2.0 this year, with improvements that will make Apple's watch look rubbish.

Unfortunately, it is not about technology, it is about convincing stupid people to pay over the odds of toys which they never use. Apple has the skills and the fanbase to do that.

Last week we went to a Best Buy in Santana Row, one of the fancy shopping neighbourhoods in San Jose, in the hope of seeing or potentially buying a Moto 360 for review. We went there just a few days after the official release and ended up talking to one of the guys in the store.

It turns out that the watch was instantly sold out practically instantly, but when we asked if the shop got tens or hundreds of units, the friendly retailer giggled and said that they received a mere three pieces. People actually waited in line for the watch and three lucky guys ended up walking home with one. We were shocked to hear that shop didn’t get a Moto 360 display where people would be able to play with the watch. This is a new product class and people simply want to see and try out before they buy it, hence we expected it on display. This didn’t happen.

Motorola doesn’t appear to think this is important, as consumers were able to get it on the Best Buy online store, but it the meantime it sold out there, too. With battery life measured in hours rather than days, the sleek Moto 360 does not sound too practical, but then again it is pretty and geeks like shiny things.

On top of that, Google’s Android Wear is simply not ready for prime time. Once you spend time with any Android Wear device from Samsung, LG or Motorola you can easily tell that the platform is unfinished. It is not just rough around the edges, it feels like a beta, but these things are actually shipping. Android Wear 1.0 feels like Android OS 1.x and this is a disappointment. Watches like the Moto 360, LG G Watch R and Asus Zenwatch sport decent hardware, but the OS is letting them down.

We came across a few EU retail listings and they give us an idea of what to expect, at least when it comes to European consumers. As expected, the price is €249. Two retailers are listing October 9th as an availability date. This is not an official date, so take it with a pinch of salt. In any case it is not much of a wait, as Europeans are used to getting their gadgets a few weeks after they start shipping in the US.

The actual body of the watch measures 46mm x 11.5mm. We expected the 360 to end up on the thick side, but 11.5mm (0.45in) might be a tad too much for some people. Still, it is not much thicker than the old Qualcomm Toq, which is 9.96mm thick. The Moto 360 weighs 49g - and we are talking about the leather strap version, not the metal one.

Finally, here is the first official photo of the bundled charger, although some photos of the charger were leaked roughly a month ago. Of course, the Moto 360 does not feature any ports and it relies on Qi wireless chargers – this is the one that is going to ship with the watch.

We do not have the exact dimensions, but it looks relatively compact judging by the size of the USB port and the fact that it is designed to be roughly the same size of as the watch, i.e. around 45mm across. It’s not too big for frequent travellers and in any case they can also use a different Qi pad that could charge other devices as well.

The eagerly anticipated Moto 360 is finally official and it turns out most of the rumours were spot on. The device costs $249, but a $299 version with a metal strap is coming later.

For some reason Motorola did not talk about the specs very much, which implies that this is supposed to be a product for the great unwashed rather than proper geeks. Many tech sites covered Moto’s event and did not even bother with the spec, which is understandable since Motorola still hasn’t revealed anything.

Moto 360 spec still incomplete

The screen is a 1.56-inch LCD and the resolution stands at 320x290 (bear in mind this is a round screen, or at least it should be), which translates into a respectable 205ppi. Motorola’s choice of SoC is unusual. It the Texas Instruments OMAP 3, but the details have not been disclosed yet.

The Moto 360 has 512MB of RAM and 4GB of storage, along with a 320mAh battery. The OS is of course Google’s Android Wear. It is still unclear what to expect in terms of connectivity, we don’t know the exact WiFi spec, whether or not it has NFC and so on. The Moto 360 features Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy connectivity.

In terms of sensors the watch sports a pedometer and an optical heart rate monitor, which is good news for fitness buffs, but this is hardly a differentiator since we expect all smartwatches to feature similar functionality. The material of choice is aluminium and the device is IP67 certified. It can handle an occasional splash of water or even a short swim, but you won’t be diving for pearls with the Moto 360.

Buzzkill time

Time for some bad news. Motorola chose its product renders carefully and it used a weather widget at the bottom of the screen. This is because the screen is not entirely round – it is chopped off at the bottom and it looks like something that could annoy potential users. With a black custom clock face it should look ok, but we are not sure about white though.

The screen is LCD rather than AMOLED, which raises questions about the Moto 360’s battery life. Furthermore the battery is a paltry 320mAh. It is on par with the competition and it is no game changer. Perhaps the choice of TI OMAP 3 silicon has something to do with extending battery life but it is still too early to say.

Metal wristbands will cost $79 when sold separately and this does not sound like a very good deal at all. However, it's good news for LG, as its G Watch R looks a tad more tempting now. At least it has a proper round screen.

The Moto 360 might be the most interesting Android Wear smartwatch so far and now we have a new look at it with a bunch of pictures showing the smartphone on a wrist as well as more charging details, including the charging dock.

The Moto 360 smartwatch is as close to a regular watch as possible and that was Motorola's idea from the beginning. This design solution appears to be working well as the company managed to stir up a lot of interest. The new set of pictures, obtained by Mister Gadget, also show the new wireless charging dock which does not look half bad as it will allow you to place the Moto 360 and simply pick it up when you need it or when it is fully charged. Most importantly, Motorola will avoid problem some users had with their LG G Watch and charging contacts.

Unfortunately, there are still no precise information regarding the price and all we have was the leaked price from one UK retailer which had it listed for £199.99 (US $337), which puts it way above the recently released Android Wear smartwatches from LG and Samsung.

Motorola has released yet another promotional video for its Moto 360 smartwatch explaining why it went with a circular design rather than a cheaper rectangular smartwatch like most of the competition. Unfortunately, it still did not shed any light on the official launch date or the official price.

The new Moto 360: Why a Watch promo video hosts Moto 360 Product Lead, Lior Ron, who tries to explain why did Motorola decide to go for the traditional watch design rather than put a box on your wrist. Motorola's obvious inspiration was the standard watch, which according to Lior Ron has a super comfortable design which allowed them to have a sizable display which shows a lot of information and retain the classical look of a wrist watch.

Why the video seems like a nice touch and keeps the hype up, Motorola did not reveal any details regarding the official price or the official launch date, other than "later this summer", which we heard during Google I/O. Recent rumors pointed to July as a possible launch date and the price was rumored at anywhere between €249 and €300.

While both Samsung's Gear Live and LG's G Watch events were the wearable stars of Google I/O 2014, Motorola's circular Moto 360 smartwatch was probably the most interesting Android Wear powered device to appear at the event.

Engadget.com managed to spend some time with it and according to the first impressions, the Moto 360 definitely feels like a premium device with "luxurious look and feel". According to Motorola's wearable products guy, Lior Ron, the design was focused on the premium watch aesthetic as the Moto 360 aims to look like a standard watch rather than a smartwatch.

Unfortunately, like every other device at Google I/O 2014, the Moto 360 was also running Android Wear in a demo mode so there is not much to see regarding in terms of actual features, but it surelly looks good.

While the LG G Watch is already up for pre-order and should ship on July 7th, the Motorola Moto 360 will launch "later this summer" and Motorola still did not officially announce the price of it.

Although many expected it to be quite as bit more expensive, according to the latest report, the Motorola Moto 360 smartwatch could cost around €249 and be on retail/e-tail shelves in July.

The fresh report comes from the French website Journal du Geek which suggest that the Moto 360 could be ready and on shelves in July and carry a €249 price tag. The site did not reveal many details other than the information came from their sources and although sketchy, the info is pretty much in line with what have been brewing in rumor pot for quite some time.

Many, yours truly included, consider the Moto 360 as the first real smartwatch as it retains the look and design of a standard wrist watch and not a large box like thing sitting a top of your wrist. The rectangular design of some other smartwatches that are currently on the market could appeal to those feeling nostalgia for the Casio calculator watch, but Moto 360 simply looks better.

There have not been many details regarding the actual specifications of the Motorola Moto 360 but some earlier rumors suggested both premium sapphire glass protection, secret charging method, with some sort of wireless charging due to lack of USB port, and an ability to remove it from the strap and replace the strap with some other Moto 360 strap which will be available in multiple colors.

The smartwatch race is certainly heating up and we are sure we will see more than a few devices by the end of this year.

When Google announced its Google Wear, we saw a couple of smartwatch announcements including LG's G Watch and Motorola's Moto 360, but since Motorola has been quite reluctant to reveal any precise and official details regarding its smartwatch, it does not come as a surprise that the rumour mill has started to churn.

While LG went with the square design with the LG G Watch, Motorola's Moto 360 smartwatch actually looks like a proper watch. The rumor list regarding the Moto 360 kicks off with a possible OLED screen but there is no information regarding the resolution or the size. The smartwatch is said to feature a sapphire glass protection which could suggest that Moto 360 will be a premium device, which also means a high price tag.

Motorola only revealed that the Moto 360 will feature a "secret" charging method and no USB port which most likely points to some sort of wireless charging, something that is a must when it comes to smartwatches, at least in our book.

As far as the hardware side, most rumors are still blank and currently we only have a general release date set by Motorola for some time in the summer. Hopefully, Motorola will do a global launch rather than focus only on the USA, like it did with its Moto X smartphone.